Game On
by LittleRedOne
Summary: Caitlyn enlists the help of her friends to try and win Nate's attention. -- “Okay,” Tess said, all business, “this is it, game on.” -- Nate/Caitlyn. For LaPaige. Happy belated birthday!


**A/N: **I'm three days late – sorry Paige – but this is a little fic for, LaPaige for her birthday! I haven't talked to you much lately Paige, but that's no reason not to wish you a very happy belated birthday! I hope you're still a Naitlyn fan because that's what I've written you!! Sorry it's late, but Halloween kills any free time I have to write. Next year I'm going to start writing it super early so it's done and ready by your birthday.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Camp Rock or anything you recognize from the movie.

* * *

Catching the signal from one of her friends, Caitlyn brushed her skirt, took a deep breath and walked towards where he was sitting. She made sure to add a swing to her hips, hoping the action looked natural on her – or at least not ridiculous. Judging by the eyes she felt on her, she looked just fine. Admittedly, she didn't have much of an idea what she was doing. She wasn't up on the whole seductive flirting technique, but she also wasn't one to back down from a challenge. And she was finding out that trying to catch his attention _was_ a challenge.

"Mind if I join you?" she asked when she reached him, foolishly batting her eyelashes.

"Sure Miss Caitlyn," he smiled up at her, gesturing across the table to the empty space. "Have a seat."

She smiled back and easily slid onto the chair across from him. _Alright_, she thought, _now I just have to hold a bit of conversation, look like I'm having a good time and then get out of here_. It was a dangerous game she realized. There was only so much she could give before he would be far too willing to take. She had to watch for any signs that she was playing into this too well. She needed to be able to back out at any sign of trouble.

She managed to hold herself together for a full conversation and get out of there in decent shape. She strutted away from him, feeling his eyes linger briefly before his attention was diverted elsewhere. She breathed a sigh of relief as she made it over to her group of friends.

"You did great!" Mitchie greeted her instantly with a happy hug.

"We told you there was nothing to worry about," Tess added.

"I'm just glad it's over," Caitlyn shook her head. "Seduction is far out of my comfort zone."

"I told you that you didn't have to do it," Lola reminded her.

"I know," she groaned, "but if I want the end result to be in my favor then a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do."

"Hey, people do much crazier things for love," Mitchie quipped.

"I just feel guilty deceiving people," she half mumbled. "That's _not_ how I am and now he'll think it is. I hate this stupid game called love."

Ella smiled sympathetically at her. "All's fair in love and war."

"Besides," Tess added, "the important thing is that Nate's eyes are still checking back at you – often."

Caitlyn felt a bubble of hope rise in her chest. She glanced up, along with her entire group of friends, and looked over to his table. He wasn't looking at her, but it was only a matter of seconds before he turned his head in their direction. He looked surprised to find six girls staring at him and, after briefly locking eyes with Caitlyn, looked back in the other direction. She let go of the breath she didn't know she'd been holding as her friends all turned back to her.

"Told you," Tess said smugly. "Keep him in your peripherals, he'll look again soon."

They all went silent, watching Nate without openly watching Nate. It was odd, Caitlyn realized, staring directly at Lola while her sole attention was really on Nate. It was a pretty intense few minutes while they waited for him to look again.

"Shouldn't we be talking?" Peggy whispered.

"Why?" Ella asked back in a whisper. "We're trying to watch Nate."

Peggy sighed. "Won't it be weird though, for him to look over here and see as all staring at each other silently? I'm finding it kind of creepy myself."

"Agreed," Mitchie piped in. She cast a quick look around, probably to see how many people thought they were mental, before raising her voice. "So let's talk. What's the next step?"

"There is no next step," Tess shrugged.

"I thought you had a plan?" Caitlyn said, turning her head towards Tess so she could see her annoyance but Nate was still in sight.

"I did," she nodded. "Plan complete."

"Well that's a stupid plan," Caitlyn complained. "I thought you'd come up with something better than "flirt"."

"Hey, you asked me-"

"He's looking!" Mitchie cut Tess off excitedly. Everyone stilled as they tried not to turn and openly stare at Nate again.

"Okay," Peggy said giddily, "Caitlyn, _and only Caitlyn_, has to turn and look at him."

"Why?" Caitlyn blushed.

"Because we don't want him to think we're all interested in him!" Peggy wrinkled her nose.

"Besides, he'll maintain eye contact longer if it's just you," Lola winked.

"Just hurry up and do it before he looks away!" Tess snapped.

Fighting back the urge to snap back Caitlyn took a deep breath and turned to look across the room at Nate again; trying to make it look like it was just a happy coincidence. He was still looking at her when her eyes landed on him and he smiled at her. She smiled back and gave him a small wave.

"Okay look away!" Peggy ordered.

"Why should she look away?" Ella asked. "She has his attention!"

"Look away Caitlyn," Peggy repeated, not acknowledging Ella's question. "He'll come over to talk to you if you look away now."

"Leave him wanting more," Tess quipped.

It took a moment, but Caitlyn gave one last smile and turned back to her friends. They were all grinning at her and her cheeks burned. "He really was looking at me."

"Told you he liked you Cait," Mitchie threw an arm around her shoulder. "Just took some prodding to make it known."

"Now just keep your fingers crossed he's not an idiot and actually comes over here," Tess laughed.

Caitlyn beamed at her friends and laughed along with them. "You guys are the greatest."

"I'll drink to that," Tess smirked, holding up her bottle of water. They all mimicked her actions and, with a cheer of "To us!" they gulped down their waters. Before they even set their drinks back down Nate was walking towards them. "Okay," Tess said, all business, "this is it, game on."

"Hello ladies," Nate smiled. "Just what are we toasting to over here?"

"Just how awesome we are," Tess shrugged.

"Which, in case you didn't know, is pretty awesome," Mitchie informed him.

"I had a pretty good idea," he laughed. "Well, as an official host of this party I believe it's my duty to make sure you're all having a good time. So how is your evening going?"

The girls all locked eyes before Ella spoke up. "We're having a great time."

"All of us except for Caitlyn here," Lola said sadly. Caitlyn glared at her friends. She had a pretty good idea where this was going.

"Who was just complaining about our wonderful company," Peggy added dramatically.

"Apparently we're just not fun enough for her," Mitchie shook her head.

"Do you have any idea of someone who can keep her entertained?" Tess finished with a smirk.

Nate smiled. "It just so happens I kn-"

"Caitlyn!" Jason called excitedly, running up to them and completely cutting Nate off. "I was just talking to James and guess what?" He didn't wait for her to guess and just went on. "He said he likes you. Actually," he paused, completely oblivious to the glares _every_person in the group was sending him, "his exact words were 'Caitlyn's pretty cool. I wouldn't mind getting to know her better you know'. Isn't this awesome?" Caitlyn didn't think it was that awesome, but in his excitement Jason missed the look on her face and grabbed her hand, dragging her away while he kept on chattering. "How cool would it be if you dated our newest band member? He already fits in with our group and I know he meets your standards."

"Oh," Caitlyn squeaked uncomfortably. What she had meant to say was that no, it wouldn't be cool if she dated their newest band member and that no, he didn't meet her standards. Nothing against James, he was an okay enough guy, but he was no Nate. She knew it wasn't fair to compare – because who could really compare to Nate – but when her heart already had its sights set on one, it wouldn't settle for another. She inwardly cursed Tess as Jason pulled her to a halt in front of James.

"Well, look who it is," Jason said, terribly trying to cover the obviousness of the situation. "Imagine running into you here."

James shook his head. "Funny I'd see you in the same place we were talking three minutes ago."

"Yeah," Jason smiled, pulling out a chair and joining him at the table. "I was just talking and walking with Caitlyn here and we happened upon you."

"Huh," James half smiled, clearly trying not to laugh. Caitlyn assumed he'd watched Jason drag her across the yard and felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "Don't be shy," he said to her, "have a seat Miss Caitlyn."

She debated how rude she'd look if she were to turn and walk (run) away and realized the only option she really had was to sit down. She took a deliberate step towards the empty seat beside Jason, prompting him to shoot her a very pointed look. She smiled uncomfortably and moved to the other empty seat – right next to James. In all fairness, Caitlyn could think of many situations that were less comfortable than this one. That didn't change the fact that she was highly uncomfortable. She nearly cried in relief when, ten minutes into the conversation, Nate invited himself over and sat down across from her. She was disappointed that he didn't save her, instead just joining in the conversation.

"Oh yeah," Nate nodded. "Caitlyn's great at what she does. I don't really get to work with her professionally, but sometimes we just produce things for fun." He glanced over at Caitlyn before locking eyes with James. "We make a great team. Everything we do together turns out awesome." Caitlyn felt a rush of satisfaction. Nate thought they were a great team. "Of course," he continued, "she's great all on her own too. We were all hanging out the other day and I happened upon her laptop. She's got some great tracks on there."

"You went through my laptop!" Caitlyn sat up.

"Just the files you had open already," he shrugged lightly. "Sorry, but you always have something brilliant in the works. Which reminds me, I need to talk to you about a possible collaboration?"

"We'll see about that," she muttered, angry he'd gone through her files. She was just lucky she'd closed a certain few. She promised herself that from then on out she was reinforcing the password protection on her laptop. It was a pain most of the time, but it kept people off her computer. She was so wrapped up in her indignant anger that she missed the next part of the conversation and was completely caught off guard by Nate calling her name.

"You back with us now?" he smiled amusedly at her.

"Sorry, just thinking about ways to protect my computer from snoopers," she smiled cheekily at him.

He grinned back, "Like I couldn't figure your passwords out anyways."

"We shall see."

"Back to what I was saying," Nate shook his head. "Do you mind helping me? I think Shane's eaten just about everything we've put out."

"I can help," Jason chipped in. "This is partially my party. Caitlyn can stay here."

"It's alright Jase," she smiled at him, relieved Nate was providing her with an out. "You know I don't mind helping out."

Jason frowned but Caitlyn was up and moving from the table before he could protest any longer. She entered the kitchen and went straight through to the living room, collapsing on the couch and closing her eyes. She was wondering how she could have so royally screwed everything up when she heard footsteps, Nate's she assumed, stop in the doorway between the two rooms. She held up an arm to wave him away. "I'm good. I'll be in to help with the food in a few."

"That's okay," he answered. "This party's catered. Someone else will take care of the food."

She opened her eyes and looked over at him, her forehead creasing with confusion. "I thought you needed my help."

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p' on the word. "I just asked if you'd _mind_ helping. I didn't say I _needed_ your help."

"Oh," she said stupidly.

"Mind if I sit with you?" She shook her head no so he sat beside her. "Some interesting conversation took place after Jason dragged you off."

"Great," she muttered. She could already picture them trying to make Nate jealous and go do something about it. She was sure Tess had been commenting how cute she'd look with James. And Lola probably said something about him being a good catch. She wasn't even sure she wanted to hear it. "I'm sure they all had quite a bit to say about it."

"Actually," Nate shook his head, "it was weird. They started arguing."

"Arguing?" Caitlyn asked surprised.

"Yeah, Peggy said it was Tess's fault. Mitchie said they all agreed to Tess's idea. Lola said she told them it was a bad idea from the start. Tess bit back that her idea did its purpose and it wasn't her fault it went beyond that. And Ella, well, Ella just kept saying all's fair in love and war, which I didn't really get. Then again, I really had no idea what they were arguing about for the longest time so it makes sense I'd be confused."

Caitlyn held back a gulp. "Do you know what they were arguing about now?"

"Yeah, Tess said that they were all interested in James." Caitlyn was just about to sigh in relief when he went on. "Not that I believe that. Mitchie doesn't have eyes for anyone but Shane and everyone knows that. And the other girls wouldn't go for James. I've picked up over the years the types of guys you all go for. I guess Tess gets credit for trying to confuse me though, right?"

"So you don't believe her, but you do think you know why they were arguing?"

"Give me some credit Caitlyn. I can put two and two together."

"Alright, so let's just put this out in the open, why exactly do you think they were arguing?"

"Because you don't like James, but Tess convinced you to flirt with him. Now he likes you and you're screwed."

Caitlyn waited for her to add on the "but really you like me" but it didn't come. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved that he didn't find out that way or upset because he still didn't know. He was right, he could put two and two together, so why couldn't he just figure out she liked him and make her life a whole lot easier? It was at that moment that she remembered a very particular, at the time unimportant, conversation that had taken place shortly after they'd become friends.

"_Rumor backstage is that somebody has a crush on you," she sing-sang, skipping out to the stage he'd be playing on that night. He was sitting with one leg dangling over the edge, the other tucked underneath him, with his guitar on his lap, mindlessly plucking strings._

_His fingers stopped plucking and he smiled lightly up at her. "I think we've been hanging out in the same backstage. I've heard the rumor too."_

"_So, when you gonna ask her out?" she said excitedly, inviting herself to sit cross legged on the floor next to him. "I personally think the sooner the better, but I'm not against waiting a few days either."_

"_I'm not actually," he cleared his throat._

"_Oh," she blinked. "I thought you liked her."_

"_I do," he nodded._

"_But you don't want to date her," she clarified. _

"_I don't know," he shrugged._

"_What better way to get to know than _on a date_?" she grinned. "No one to interrupt, you can just talk and learn about each other. That way you can see if you want to date her."_

"_I can get to know her just fine with other people around," he said indifferently._

"_You're really not going to ask her out?" she asked confused._

"_No."_

"_Okay, not to sound pushy or rude, and not that it's my business, but _why not_?"_

"_She never told me she likes me," he said simply._

"_She does like you."_

"_I know. You just told me."_

"_So you know she does."_

"_Yes, but she never told me."_

"_And that matters?"_

"_Yes."_

"_So if she told you herself?"_

"_Then I'd ask her out."_

_Caitlyn tried to wrap her head around it, but it just didn't make sense to her. "_You_ never told _her_ you liked her."_

"_I know," he nodded._

"_So how can you expect her to tell you?" she questioned_

_He smiled a little and Caitlyn got the feeling he was about to revel some big secret. As if reading her thoughts he leaned in a little, gesturing for her to do the same. "I want to date a girl who's not afraid to take the chance," he whispered. "Even if I am."_

It had been completely irrelevant to her at the time. Maybe that was why she'd never remembered until just that moment. All this time her friends tried telling her that yes, Nate did like her and she never believed them. And she's just starting to understand now that maybe he really did like her. He acted like he did sometimes and her friends all insisted. Maybe all he needed was for her to tell him he liked her and he'd reciprocate. But what if he didn't and she admitted she had feelings? Would that change everything? It would be a big chance, but isn't that what he wanted, someone who would _take the chance_?

"Nate," she said, releasing a deep breath. "I have something I have to tell you."

"Okay," he smiled, completely oblivious to her flashback. "You're not going to admit you actually do like James are you?" he teased. She was pleased to detect the slightest hint of dread in his voice. He didn't want her to like James. That just gave her all the more confidence. When she glared at him he sobered up. "Sorry, hit me with it."

"Thank you," she smiled. "As I was saying, Tess told me I should flirt with James. Apparently I'm better at it than I thought I'd be because now he likes me. The problem is that I don't like him; you were right about that. And I'm terrible for flirting with him when I wasn't really interested, but it was all part of this _grand plan_Tess had. I knew I shouldn't have listened to her. Mitchie said it was a good idea though, and then the others agreed." She should have known better than to mess with one person to get to another, but she was getting desperate trying to get Nate to like her. "And now I'm in this _stupid_ mess of Jason trying to set me up with _James_ when I just want to be with _you_."

Nate nodded, which caught her off guard because, though she'd been talking fast and kind of rambling, she didn't recall actually saying anything that should have had the response of a nod. "I see the problem," he told her. "I can talk to Jason and James for you."

Ignoring the fact that he didn't mention her wanting to be with him, she replied. "No, I can straighten it out myself. I was just so caught off guard before that I didn't know what to do. One second I thought something was about to happen between us and the next I was being dragged off." She paused, waiting to see if he'd say something about "them" but when he didn't she kept talking. "I know it was stupid, but I really like you, Nate. And you were looking at me and smiling at me and I let everyone else convince me that you liked me too. It was just stupid."

"What's so stupid about that?" he asked. "You like me. And I _was_ looking at you. I _was_ smiling at you. I'd actually been just about to suggest we go sit and talk one on one when Jason came over."

"Oh," she blinked. He was making it difficult. Was he saying he liked her too? Or was he just saying that he could understand why she'd come to that conclusion? "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I figured out a long time ago that you liked me Caitlyn," he told her. "I wasn't ever going to do anything about it though because no matter what I pick up or other people tell me it doesn't mean anything unless it comes from you. And then James came into the picture," he said with a bit of a sour note. "You flirting with him today had nothing to do with his liking you. He had an eye on you right from the get go because you tried so hard to make him feel welcome as a friend and not just a band member. And I'll never admit this to anyone else, but I started to panic inside. And when I saw you flirting with him today… I just… I had to tell you." He looked up and smiled at her. "I like you too Caitlyn. I have for a while."

"Really?"

"Really," he nodded. "I don't want Jason to try and set you up with James because I want to be with you too."

Caitlyn beamed and threw her arms around his neck. She pulled back and smiled as he leaned into kiss her.

* * *

"You were right," Jason whispered, shaking his head and turning to his newest ally. "We've been trying to get them together for years. You're here two weeks and bam!"

"I know," James smirked. "I'm awesome like that." There was a throat clearing and James rolled his eyes. "And I may have had some help."

"You better give me credit," Tess grumbled. "It took a _lot_of convincing to get Caitlyn to flirt with _you_."

James smiled at her, unaffected by her insult. "I think this is the beginning of some good times for us."

* * *

**A/N: **I didn't want to end with there being any worries about James liking Caitlyn and all that so throwing those three in at the end was my solution. I hope that doesn't take away from the Naitlyn. And Paige, I hope you liked this.


End file.
